A quick Glenn Smith and Damon Leitch will be all smiles this evening.
The pair were comfortably the fastest in the three-hour field during testing at Teretonga today for round three of the South Island Endurance Series.
Driving the McLaren 650s GT3, Smith and Leitch set an electric 54.061s lap during this afternoon’s second test session.
The lap was 2.7s better than anything their rivals could do. Second-best was the Porsche 991 GT3R of Allan Dippie and Scott O’Donnell.
With none of the Auckland and Waikato teams able to make the event, plus the absence of Timaru race winners Anthony Leighs and Tom Alexander, Smith and Leitch are favourites for tomorrow’s race.
Smith hasn’t had much luck the past few weeks down south, so he’ll be out to put things right tomorrow.
Leitch joined the SBT Motorsport crew last race at Levels but retired early in the race.
In Class D, Steve Brooks and Jack Milligan had the edge on their main threat Martin Dippie and Aaron Slight.
However, the lap of the day, without a doubt, came from Ryan Wood in the morning’s first practice for Class C and D one-hour competitors.
Wood posted an incredible 56.987s lap in his 991 Cup Car.
The lap stood as the fastest for the rest of the day.
Chris Henderson was second quickest, setting a 58.038 tour.
Wood is gunning for his third successive win this weekend in what has been a sensational first season of endurance racing from the 17-year-old.
Timaru race winner in the Class A and B one-hour, Rhys Gould, was fastest in all three test sessions.
In the final session, the Hyundai i30 N TCR cracked under the 60s bracket, stopping the clock at 59.772s.
Scott O’Donnell was next fastest, setting a 1.00.329 in the day’s second test.
Qualifying for all three races begins at 9 am tomorrow, with the Class A and B one-hour the first race of the day starting at 10.20 am.